The Elements of Insanity
by Melody Waters
Summary: Star Swirled's attempted magic spell to create objects stronger than the Elements of Harmony failed and resulted in six terrible elements known as the Elements of Insanity. The six elements could any day come together and throw Equestria into a world of Chaos. But it's just an old pony's tale, right?
1. What are the Elements of Insanity?

**Temporary Third Person**

Star Swirled the Bearded was working on a spell that would prove to be more powerful than The Elements of Harmony.

This task proved to be fatal, as Star Swirled had ended up creating parallels to The Elements of Harmony. The counterparts, so to speak, were the complete opposite as the Elements of Harmony. The Elements were given names to represent the chaos and disharmony it was part of creating.

The first element is known as _Addiction_ and _Lies_. As said in the name it is something that no pony would ever want to have, as well as all the other elements it is apart of creating a chaos so big, it could put all of Equestria at risk.

The second element is _Cruelty_. The third is _Depression_. The fourth is _Abandonment._ The fifth is _Greed._ And the very last one, and most powerful of all is _Darkness_. When all of these elements come together they can have the power to throw Equestria into a never-ending world of insanity, hence the name. This is why Star Swirled locked them away in a secret vault.

Nopony really knows wear the vault is hidden, though some say near the Castle of the Two Sisters, they have felt a dark aura coming from the cellar room. Although only the bearer of the Elements of Harmony can unseal the vault, making Princess Celestia the only pony in all of Equestria who can open it.

"Twilight, would you go to bed already? It's almost two in the morning." Twilight heard an exhausted Spike's voice coming from his bedroom in the castle.

"Oh! Okay, alright sorry! You know, just reading some old pony tales!" Twilight called from the other room.

Twilight shut off the light in her room and drifted into a deep slumber. She had thought about what she had just read. she had never heard of the Elements of Disharmony. Apparently it was just an old pony's tale, but she was still curious about it. But, she knew she should just drop it, and so she decided to forget about it.

 _"Twilight Sparkle, you know you want to. You're curious about them. You're the bearer of the elements. You can set them free!"_

"HUH?!" Twilight gasped.

"What! What is it?" Spike came running in with a rolling pin and apron. He must have been cooking breakfast.

"Oh, nothing Spike. It was just a dream!" Twilight soothed. "What time is it, by the way?"

"It's about nine in the morning. Why, do you have plans?" Spike asked.

"No, I was just wondering."

Twilight thought about the nightmare she had last night. She was in a dark place, but she say something. It was a blue box with a purple flame around it. And then there was that voice. The voice she heard had sounded kind, but there was also a bit of evil behind it. That nightmare had to have meant something! Although maybe Twilight was just overthinking it. She tended to do that a lot.

 **Twilight's P.O.V**

The nightmare I had still bothered me for the rest of the day. I kept on thinking that I should write to Princess Celestia, but I knew she would just tell me that it was an old pony's tale. Besides even if they did exist, the book had said that only the Princess could free them! Why would she need to do that?! Still, it bothered me knowing that something as strong as the elements might exist. But I shouldn't worry, it's _if_ they exist.

I decided to go about my day. I was having another huge book sort day! It was going to be a bla-

"Hey Twilight!" came an all too familiar voice. Then before Twilight knew it, a certain pegasus was racing around the library, obviously attempting to show off.

"Hey Rainbowdash. What are you doing here?" I said as politely as I could.

Rainbow stopped flying and came down looking kind of embarrassed. "Well, every pony is busy today and I really don't have anything to do, so... You wanna hang out?"

I wanted to say no because I was really hoping to finish my book sort, but I didn't want to let Rainbowdash down. "Um, I guess we could do, uh... something."

"Yahoo! I knew you would be able to hang Twilight! What do you want to do?! Have a race?! Go monster hunting?! No, wait, have another adventure with Daring do?!" she kept giving me ideas, when I finally thought.

"Lets go to the castle of the two sisters, we uh, could hunt for monsters there!" I lied.

"Wait, really!" Rainbowdash sort of gulped.

"You're not scared are you?" I taunted.

"ME? Pssh, no way!" she replied.

"Great! Let me go grab a few things and we can get going!" I had to know if those Elements of Insanity were real I just had too!

I grabbed an abundance of magic books, food, water, and writing utensils. I had to be ready for what I might find in there. I gulped a little bit, I didn't even know what I was looking for, but if pony's sensed dark magic from the depths of the castle, then it might be a good idea to go investigate.

"Where are you going?" Spike asked as I dropped in the last quill.

"Rainbowdash and I are going tot the Castle of the Two Sisters to do some research." which wasn't far from the truth.

Spike just kind of looked at me for a while, like he was trying to solve a puzzle in his head. Finally he opened his mouth, "Can I come too then?"

I was a little stunned. Spike hated the castle. He always complained about it being too creepy, I didn't blame him, it was almost always dark on the inside and covered in cob webs.

"Well, I guess of you really want to." I said.

And Spike joined our little mission. I was going to find the elements, Rainbow was going for monsters, and Spike was going for research, I think. Anyway We were all talking and laughing about stupid tiny things the whole way there, and I guess none of us noticed that we were inside the castle. It happened so fast!

"So where do we start?" Rainbowdash stuttered.

"In the basement obviously!" I said back.

"T-The BASEMENT!?" Spike called from my back.

"Well yeah, that's probably the creepiest place in this castle right?" I asked.

"Yeah... Right." Rainbowdash said.

The problem was, none of us really knew where to find the basement. We didn't even know where to start. Every time a banner swayed or a bug crawled we would tense up a bit. We were all scared, and for the first time I wondered if this place really was haunted.

As we wandered around and heard the clocks tick, and the hours passed by, Rainbow sat down and said coolly, "Hey guys, I'm kinda hungry, did you bring any snacks Twilight?"

I tossed her a bag of trail mix. She practically swallowed the entire thing whole! We continued to wander around until Spike tripped. "You okay?" I asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said.

He had tripped on a wrapper of Trail Mix that Rainbowdash must have dropped. "Haha, whoops! Sorry Spike!" she said.

Spike began to stand up, but then there was a noise. It was a small click. All of the sudden, I realized that I was falling! Rainbow thought fast and used her wings and was quickly diving down to catch spike. What about me? It was only then when I remembered that I had wings. "Oh right!" I silently and calmly dropped on the ground. When I arrived Rainbow and Spike had horrified expressions on their face.

"What's wrong guys?"

"D-Don't you feel that?" Spike asked.

"Feel what?" I questioned back.

"I don't know it just feels wrong." he said.

They were very frightened, it seemed as if they had just seen a ghost. I had to wonder why I wasn't feeling anything.

"Should we head back?" I asked. If they couldn't handle it, this had to be something I did on my own.

"No. We'll be okay. Right Spike?" Rainbowdash quivered.

Spike nodded in agreement. And we started down the dimly lit hallway. It was almost pitch black other than one or two candles a million miles away from each other. Honestly, I was beginning to feel a bit queezy as well. I felt the butterflies in my stomach as we rounded each turn. Rainbow and Spike had stern expressions on their face, as if they were giving everything they had not to look nervous or worried.

As we trotted along, I began to think that the hallway never ended. Every time we turned a corner, there was more hallway, at one point I was going to say we should turn around, but then decided better of it, but finally Spike blew.

"When is this hallway going to end?! Maybe we should just turn back?" Spike looked directly at me.

"I think I agree with Spike." Rainbow said.

"Alright, we can go back then," I agreed.

We all whirled around to race back to the exit as fast as possible, but when we turned, there was nothing but a wall.

"Huh?!" Rainbow exclaimed. "That's not right, we just came..."

I turned the other way, and sure enough, there was a wall there too.

"AAAH! Twilight it's starting to move towards us!" Rainbow yelled.

The one I was staring at was beginning to close in as well.

"TWILIGHT WHAT DO WE DO?!" Rainbow called.

"I-I-" I didn't know hat to do. Was this how it was going to end?

"Twilight, can you teleport us?" I heard Spike's panicky voice.

I tried with every ounce of strength I had in me, but it proved to be useless. The walls continued to close in, the space was getting tighter and tighter, and that's when I noticed what looked like and out of place stone on the wall. It could have killed us, but we were out of options, we would die either way. I sprinted toward the stone before it could be eaten by the incoming walls and pushed it down.

The walls had stopped moving. Relief flooded through my body, but then just as we had won one battle, another lay before us. There was a new open hallway. It looked almost exactly like the one we were just walking through, yet it was different in so many ways. There was more of a pattern on each of the bricks used to build the walls, and it was brightly lit, not by orange candle flames, but by blue.

"What _is_ this place?" I heard Rainbowdash say.

"I don't know, but I'm getting a bad feeling."

And that's when I felt it. A dark pit forming in my stomach. Fear flowing through every inch of my body. I took a step into the newly opened hallway. Followed by my two companions. And almost immediately after we all stepped through, we heard the walls slam together behind us.


	2. My Mistake

There was no turning back, even if we wanted to. I could finally feel the dark aura that I had read about in my book. Then it occurred to me, where and when did I get the book? I had brought it along just in case we wouldn't be able to find anything. I hadn't expected that we would. The title of the book was "Star Swirled the Bearded's Greatest Spells. I thought deep in my mind to where the book had appeared. I couldn't seem to remember how the book got into my possession. It seemed to have just appeared someday.

As we walked along the semi-brightly lit passage way, the blue flames seemed to get brighter. The dreariness and nervousness was replaced with a sense of security, but why? I could tell Rainbowdash and Spike began to relax, their shoulder that were once tense now dropped into a more comfortable position, and the look on their faces became less focused and more mild. Before I even realized it, I had become more tranquil the more we walked.

This hallway had been much shorter than the last , but it also appeared to be becoming larger. The designs along the brick wall were more spread out, and the path just looked wider. I had a strong urge to glance back, but I feared that the walls would be following us, so I kept staring straight ahead and let the serenity of the blue flames clear my mind.

I felt that my theory of the passage way getting wider was correct when we were finally faced with a humongous door. On a closer inspection, you would be able to see that the door would need six keys to open, but at the time I didn't realize that we needed any.

"How do we get in?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, I don't know, I don't see any handles, do we just push it?" I suggested.

At this, Rainbow flew up and bolted right into the door, the impact must have put her in immense pain, as the door did not budge.

"AAA, OW!" Rainbow gently flew down, holding her right hoof, it had to have been sprained or rolled or something!

"Are you okay?!" I quickly asked.

"No! I mean, yeah, it just hurt is all. I can keep going if that's what you mean." she forced a smile.

I didn't exactly believe her, but it's not like we had a choice, we couldn't turn back! Forward was the only direction to go! During all of this, Spike had noticed the six key holes and recognized their shape immediately.

"Hey Twilight!" he called over.

"What is it Spike?"

"Um, do those holes in the door look like the elements to you?" he asked.

Sure enough, each of the hole in the door were identical to the elements.

"B-But I didn't bring the elements! I didn't think we would need them!" I said quickly. Why would we need the elements?

"I wonder why we'd need them, but whatever is behind that door must be pretty cool!" Rainbow said eagerly.

"Or really dangerous." I added.

 _"Nonsense Twilight! We aren't dangerous! Look in your bag! You don't need to fear us, we just want to be set free! Please Twilight open your bag!"_

There was that voice again. The same one from the nightmare, but this time the slight evilness I had heard was gone, and was now devoured in kindness. I definitely needed to open this door, but why did I need to open my bags. Purely on instinct I dropped my bag to the ground and opened it. All the snacks books and drinks I had packed were now gone, but replaced with the six Elements of Harmony.

"Wha?!" I gasped.

"What's wrong?" Rainbow asked.

"The-The elements! They're right here!" I stuttered.

As I said this the elements began to rise into the air and rushing toward their slot in the door way.

"Whoa, what?" I heard Rainbow say.

As if the elements being placed into they keyholes wasn't enough, they all started glowing and shooting magic toward the center of the door. Slowly, but surely the door began to open. A bright light was beaming through the doorway.

"What's happening?" Spike gulped.

My mind was racing, what in Equestria _was_ happening. I glanced at Rainbow, she was in absolute awe as well. I stepped through the door into the light. Almost as fast as I stepped in the doorway, I felt awful. It felt as if every single bone in my body was being crushed. My flesh felt as if it was being torn apart. I let out a shriek. This was too much! What was happening? The comfort that I had once felt with the blue flames was gone, the last thing I heard before I blacked out was a loud cry from Rainbowdash, and a bunch of foot steps.

...

My head. Where was I? Was I dead? No. My eyes felt like sand, I tried my best, but I couldn't seem to open them. There was an annoying and loud ringing in my ears. It was all I could hear until at last, I opened my eyes. I immediately wanted to close them again, but I knew I had to check around so I knew where I was.

"Twilight?" I heard Rainbow yell. Her voice was slurred, but I could make out what she was saying. Her face was blurry and I couldn't focus on exactly where she was.

I began to attempt to muster out a word. It must have worked because Rainbow responded.

"In...through the...! We...get out!" I could only make out a little bit of what she said, but apparently we had to get out! I tried to stand, but it proved to be hopeless.

"L-ea-ve me." I whispered. Spike and Rainbow both shook their heads, and I saw why we needed to go. A piece of the castle fell down, almost hitting Spike in the process, then I heard rumbling. This place was collapsing! If we were underground we would for sure be crushed! They had to go, it was my fault they were here anyway, if they didn't leave, if they were killed down here...

 _"Come on Twilight! Get up! I know you can do it, don't let your friends die because of you!"_

That voice again! I saw blue flames begin to glow all around and I felt as if I could do anything. This time when I tried to stand up, I did.

"Yes, come on Twilight!" I heard Rainbow say, crystal clear. I could see and here perfectly again. There was a tiny opening in the ceiling where we could escape, Rainbow had Spike on her back and that's where they were headed. I began to follow them, but just before I did something caught my eye. Inside the blue flames I could see a box. The same box in my dream! I rushed toward it as fast as I could. Riding straight into the blue flames, which were, surprisingly, not hot, I grabbed the box and raced toward the opening where I could escape.

"Twilight!" Spike called when I jumped through the hole.

"You had as worried sick when you weren't right behind us! Uh, what's that?" Rainbow was staring at the box.

"I don't know, I saw it in a dream that I had and thought I should take it." I said.

What was that place anyway?" Rainbowdash asked.

"Well, to be honest, I don't know, but I'm pretty sure it's the place where they keep powerful items known as the Elements of Insanity, better known as the Elements of Disharmony or Chaos." I replied.

"The Elements of Chaos?" Rainbow cocked an eyebrow.

"I don't know much about them either, but I read about them in a book." I said.

"Okay, but you're telling me that we just broke the safe that holds the Elements of Chaos?" she seemed concerned.

"Well maybe, but the book said that Princess Celestia was the only one who was able to open them anyway!" I wasn't worried at all, until...

"Why only the Princess?" Spike added.

"Because she's the bearer of the Elements of Harmony." I said in a "No duh?" manner.

Spike and Rainbowdash both were gaping at me.

"What?" I asked.

"TWILIGHT! YOU'RE THE BEARER OF THE ELEMENTS!" Spike yelled.

The realization hit me hard. The door had needed the elements to be opened and they just randomly appeared in my bag. The elements were needed to open the door. The door that lead to the Elements of Insanity.

"Where are the elements?!" I demanded.

"You put them in the door!" Rainbow said.

"But that means they're gone!" I screamed.

 _"Not_ _necessarily!"_ there was a familiar voice.

"Who?" Rainbow peered over my shoulder. I whirled around.

A figure in a black cloak stood before us, she was giving off bad vibes, pure evilness, but I had definitely recognized her voice.

"It doesn't really matter who I am, does it?" the figure said.

"What do you mean the elements aren't gone?" I interrogated.

"It means _I_ have them, and I plan to use them to my advantage, but you see I wanted you to know this because you needn't try to get them back. Even if you do manage to take them away from me, the elements will do you no good." the figure cackled.

Her voice was the same one I had been hearing, I knew that for sure, but there was something familiar to it, way too familiar. Who or what did she sound like?

"Oh yeah!" Rainbow tried to leap for her, but there was a glow from her horn, and she was gone.

It didn't bother me hardly any that she had the elements, what bothered me more than anything was the fact that her voice, was the exact same as my own.


	3. The Meeting

**Far Away in a Desolate Castle in Equestria**

"To win this battle we need to destroy the elements."

"Well why don't we, you have them don't you?"

"Yes, but we can't only destroy these, we have to destroy each of the bearers."

"Why?!"

"Because, if we don't the elements will restore themselves."

"How does that work?"

"I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with them representing the elements."

"You mean... like us?"

"Exactly."

"How do we conquer Equestria if the elements are in our way?"

"Well, we just have to wait for an opening, and then, we begin our attack. Remember the Princesses aren't much of a threat, but they do have Discord on their side. That might be a bit of a struggle, so we'll have to take him out before we target anypony else."

"Right, this will be a snitch!"

"What did you expect?"

The pony left the room.

"Are you ready Twilight Sparkle? Because I can't wait! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

 **Back in Ponyville; Twilight's POV**

It had been almost two months since the run in with The Elements of Chaos or whatever. I had been paranoid about them claiming Equestria for themselves, they even had the elements! I hadn't written to Princess Celestia yet, although Rainbow and Spike said I probably should. Part of it was because I was still convinced it was all one big nightmare and nothing really happened. That was why today was so important, I had finally written a letter to the Princess and I called all the girls to come over.

"So Twilight, what's so important that you had to stop me in the middle of practice!" Rainbow smiled.

"I'm going to tell the girls that the elements are..." I gulped, "gone."

Rainbow's smile dropped and she cocked an eyebrow. "Did you wri-"

"Yes." I interrupted. "I have the reply ready to read once everypony processes what happened."

"Well that's good!" she smiled again, "I'm sure Celestia knows what to do."

The truth was, that was why I was telling them, in the letter I had received from the princess, she had wanted me to tell everypony and go to Canterlot immediately afterwards.

...

I sat in my chair and saw everypony staring at me.

"So Twi, what'd you need? I hope it's important cause' I was in the middle of fixing up our water shoot, don't want any of the water to go to waste!" Applejack chuckled.

"Yes dear, you see I have a very important order from Sapphire Shores that I absolutely must finish!" Rarity added.

"Don't worry, it's um, well... you guys deserve to know." I stuttered.

"Spill it Twilight." Rainbow urged.

"It's about the Elements of Harmony." I said.

"What about em'?" Applejack asked.

"They're sort of gone." I closed my eyes. I heard everypony gasp.

"WHAT? OH NO!" Pinkie yelled.

"What do you mean gone?" Fluttershy persisted.

"I mean they're missing, no clue where they are, and it's aLL MY FAULT!" I exploded.

"Whoa, calm down there, I'm sure they couldn't have just grown legs and walked away!" AJ said. Trying to comfort me.

"They were kind of stolen." Rainbow piped in.

"By who?" Pinkie asked.

"That's what we don't know." I said, "but I have a letter from the princess, here's what it says."

I skipped the part that said to tell them about it first.

 _"Meet up at my castle in Canterlot Twilight. I always knew this day would come.  
Please don't blame yourself dear Twilight, this was always meant to happen, if you  
would please come and see me, I might have a plan, since you opened the vault  
two months ago we still have time to locate them before they try anything."  
Love,  
Princess Celestia_

"Vault?" AJ questioned.

"Who's _them_?" Rarity asked.

"I'll explain everything on the way to Canterlot, but it looks like we have another mission!" I said with confidence.

"Twilight, can I come too?" Spike pleaded.

"Of course you can, Spike!" I giggled.

...

I told them everything that happened on that day, with Rainbow over emphasizing some of the parts. It took almost the entire train ride.

"Why in Equestria didn't you tell anypony this two months ago?" AJ asked stunned.

"I guess because nothing was happening." I tried to sound convincing.

"Oh come on Twilight! That can't be your only reason!" Rarity spoke up.

"I really don't know why I didn't tell, I guess maybe I thought it was just a horrible nightmare... No, I wanted to believe it wasn't real because... because I'm scared guys. I'm terrified. I just didn't know what to say, I thought whatever it was, was gone." I replied.

"Aw, but you shouldn't feel afraid, I mean we've defeated tons of villains before who were really strong you know! Like Tirek, and Discord, and Sombra, and Chrysalis, and Nightmare Moon, and uh, well, I guess those guys are the only ones who wanted to take over Equestria huh." Pinkie explained.

"Hmm, I don't know Pinkie, for some reason this specific villain gives me a bad feeling, I don't know what it is about them, but something tell me that they're going to be way stronger than anypony we've ever face before." I said worriedly.

"Don't worry Twilight! Even if things do go a little haywire, you'll always have me to show them what for!" Rainbow laughed.

...

We were escorted to Celestia's throne room by the royal guard and when we entered all of the princesses were there including myself.

"Cadence! Why are you here?" I inquired.

"Twilight, would you and your friends like to take a seat." Celestia sounded serious.

Sure enough, surrounding the table were seven empty chairs, they had even included one for Spike!

"Okay." we all sat down.

"So, why is everypony here?" I asked.

"This is an extremely important issue that must be discussed immediately." Luna said.

"Oh." I hadn't a clue what was so special about it.

"Twilight, did you inform your friends on why you could not tell them about this quest?" Celestia asked curiously.

I hadn't told them the truth, but I had told them something, "Um, kinda." I decided.

"You did not tell the truth then, I assume." Luna raised an eyebrow.

"You were not told because we gave Twilight very strict instructions not to mention it." Celestia said.

Everyone was shocked, even Rainbow and Spike who were with me on that fateful day.

"But why?!" Fluttershy asked.

"Because we had to wait until they made a move to inform anypony about this." Cadence said.

"Okay, but why did you have to wait?" AJ questioned.

"Until they made a move we couldn't be certain they were plotting anything, or if they were gaining any power, it also gave us time to try and locate their base. We think we might have an idea where it might be, as for gaining power. They definitely are, and the move that they mad e absolutely proves it." Cadence explained.

"What was their first move?" Rarity gulped.

Celestia sighed, "I'm afraid they had decided to target Discord first," there was a long pause and Fluttershy almost burst out of her chair, "they've turned him to stone and I'm afraid the elements can't undo this one."

"WHY NOT!?" Fluttershy shouted.

"The elements could only break the spell if they were the ones who cast it, in this case it was the Elements of Disharmony." Luna reasoned.

Fluttershy looked as if she would break into tears at any moment. It all seemed sort of strange. Why _couldn't_ we free Discord? We _should_ be able to, right? Why did the Princess want to wait to meet with us, waiting for them to make a move, that's so stupid! We were just sitting ducks waiting for them to attack, what if they had just destroyed Equestria, what with them gaining power and everything. I was getting angry, angry at the princess for waiting, at Discord for allowing himself to be turned into a statue, but mostly I was pissed off the most at myself. I hadn't told my friends, we should have done something sooner.

"So, how do we get Discord back?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, we don't know, but we're certain you must force the, um..." Luna didn't seem to know what to call them, "the... _other_ elements to transform him back."

"Well how in Equestria do we do that?!" Pinkie questioned.

"We have to start with a plan, a plan to destroy the..." Celestia didn't know what to say.

"OH FOR PONIES SAKE! Why don't we come up with a name for them already!" the irritation in my voice must've been obvious because everypony was staring at me like I was a psycho!

"You know, so we don't get confused, haha." I giggled nervously

"Alright, then we shall call them _The Chaos_." Cadence said.

Celestia started over, "To defeat The Chaos, we will have to take out each of their element bearers, one by one. Similar to how The Elements of Harmony would be destroyed. Of course this might be a bit much for you to handle because it does involve... executing other ponies."

I gulped, "You mean we'll have to actually... _kill_ them?

"Yes, but heath this warning Twilight Sparkle, it will not be easy, and you very well could be killed yourself in the process." Luna added, creating more butterflies in my stomach.

"But have no fear Twilight! Because we will be at your aid!" Cadence piped in. That made me have hopes knowing that the princesses would be fighting right alongside us! It also seemed to have comforted every other pony too, because my friends' faces relaxed, that is, until...

 _"Really? You will? I don't think so."_ Everypony froze.


	4. What Do We Do?

The voice sounded like a piece of chalk on a chalk board in my ears. Why was she here? WHY? And what was she talking about? What did she mean she didn't think so?

"DARKNESS!" Luna shouted. Her horn began to glow, "Where ARE YOU?!" she screamed.

"Oh, Luna, don't be that way." the voice pleaded. "And PLEASE don't call me darkness, call me... oh how about Tenebris Dominus. That sounds suitable, right? Hehehehe!" she cackled.

"Why are you here, Tenebris Dominus?" Celestia's expression changed into anger and disgust.

"Oh, just to take care of you!" she sounded like she was having the time of her life.

"What exactly does that mean?" Cadence huffed.

"It means that I have enough power to KILL YOU!" she yelled.

At that very moment, darkness began to shroud the princesses, but not me.

"Sadly I don't have enough for all of you, that would make it SOOO much easier, but I don't have that kind of time! Well have fun dying princesses! Tootles!" She sang.

Cadence coughed, "I-I can't-"

She started to, almost disintegrate!

"CADENCE!" I yelled panicky.

It was happening to Celestia and Luna, too!

"Princess!" I said franticly.

"What do I do?" I asked.

Celestia wheezed, "Destroy them."

All of the sudden there was an enormous glow and all of the princesses were gone, leaving nothing behind but their crowns. All I could do was stare in shock, but I snapped out of it as soon as I felt a hoof on my shoulder.

"Twilight, ah' think you know what we aught' do." Applejack's voice reached my ears.

"Yeah, we can't just use the elements that won't be enough, we have to kill each of the bearers." I was now focused.

Fluttershy gulped, "I-I don't know if I could _kill_ anypony! Even if they are evil!"

"That's okay Fluttershy! You don't have to come if you don't want to." I said, "That goes for all of you, if you're coming, meet me at the castle by four in the morning tomorrow. Got it?"

Everypony nodded.

"Alright, let's head back to Ponyville."

I took one last look at the room behind me, had I really just witnessed the princesses' deaths? No, I wouldn't believe it, I just couldn't. I faced forward and trotted out the door, I would do anything, anything at all to get the princesses back, even in if it meant having to kill her. She had better watch out, because I was coming for her, I was going to kill Tenebris Dominus.

...

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbowdash had all shone up at the castle around 3:30. We were getting ready to go, we didn't know where we were going, but anywhere sounded like a good enough plan. Besides, I thought that looking around the outskirts of Equestria was our best bet, if I was an evil villain who was trying to restore my power, at least, I'd be as far away from anypony as possible.

"I don't know, Twilight, I don't think I can kill anypony." Pinkie said while staring at the floor.

"That's fine, you don't have to come if you don't want to, I mean, Fluttershy isn't." I replied, but as if on cue, another pony stepped through the entrance to the throne room.

"Actually, I-I decided to come, if that's alright." Fluttershy whispered.

"Of course it's alright!" Rainbow said, "But are you sure you wanna come?"

"I feel like I should, I don't know if I'll be much of a help, but I can try!" She responded sternly.

"Well then!" I sang.

Everypony had saddlebags filled with all sorts of things, it was going to be a long train ride to get to the very border of Equestria, and even then, it might've been months before we even found them. I packed up everything I thought we could have a use for, but before catching the train at 4:15, I went to talk to a certain pony who I could trust.

"Zecora?" I knocked on the hut's door.

A zebra answered the door.

"Twilight! What can I do for you this late in the night?" She asked, it was only then when I had realized that most ponies were probably still asleep at this hour.

"I'm really sorry to bother you, Zecora, but I have a really important favor I need to ask."

"Ah, why don't you come in for some tea, I have made far too much for only me." She gestured for me to come in.

"Thanks." I said, "Anyway, first I have to ask, do you know anything about the Elements of Insanity?"

Zecora almost spit out her tea, but she nodded.

"Alright, well that saves me some explaining, but you see, they've escaped, and my friends and I are going to try to find them, and I need somepony to notify me, you know, just in case they turn up in Ponyville or Canterlot." I explained.

"So you ask this of me, but I think seeing the princesses would be the key."

"We did, and they... well, um..."

"They were defeated by Insanity, so it must be up to you and the Harmony." Zecora glanced up at me.

"Yeah, how did you-"

"The news spreads fast, I would not be the one to hear it last."

"You mean, the princesses' disappearance has already spread?!" I was stunned.

"Not to those who would panic, but only to those who would not be frantic."

"But-But wouldn't everypony be panicking?!" I asked.

She shook her head.

I was confused, "So you'll tell me if they turn up here?" I pleaded with my eyes.

"Of course Twilight, but I want to warn you before you go to fight."

I tilted my head in confusion.

"The Chaos wants Equestria and if you are going to defend, they'll try and try to make you and your friends' lives come to an end."

"Huh, why?" I was curious.

"Equestria has faith in the elements, the Chaos wants to erase that faith." She said, without rhyming.

"wait Zecora! That didn't rhyme!" I was startled by not only what she had said, but the way she said it as well.

"Now go! Or Equestria might be facing its finishing blow!" She said eagerly.

...

The train gave one final whistle and we were on our way to the edge, there would only be ocean once we reached it, that was where their base had to be, it just had to!

"Well, another adventure!" Rarity sang.

I couldn't even try to smile about this, the girls were giggling and being all excited, but there was nothing to be excited about! What we were trying to accomplish was not a situation to be so enthusiastic about! We were on a mission to kill ponies, ponies who were pure evil, ponies who were gaining power every second, how were we supposed to beat them!? Without the princesses or Discord, we couldn't do anything! If we could just use the elements that would be perfect, but we didn't have them, nor could we use them.

"Hey Twilight, you okay?" I heard a very worried dragon's voice.

"Yeah, I'm just a little nervous is all." I said.

"Well this is a pretty big mission, especially since we don't even know where to find them... and we don't have the elements... and we don't know how to defeat them..." He must've realized my change in expression because he paused for a minute before going, "Oh, oops, sorry."

"What are we going to do, Spike?" I begged for answers.

"I don't know, I'm sure you'll figure something out! You always do!" He replied cheerfully, which made me feel a bit better.

"Thanks, Spike." I gave him a little hug.

I appreciated his help in trying to get me to feel better, I stared out the window a bit longer, just beginning to think lovely thought, I began to think about good things, and that no matter what we were going to be able to defeat them, somehow, but I knew I thought with my friends by my side, anything was possible! Even if we didn't have the elements, I giggled to myself, absorbed in my thoughts, which were suddenly broken by the elements of Honesty's voice.

"Come here, Twi! You shouldn't just be dazing off like that!" she chuckled. I gave her a genuine smile.

Though, I shouldn't have let my guard down, I went to talk and laugh with the girls, but I shouldn't of because if I had kept staring at the window, and glancing back and fourth through all of the seats next to me, I would have realized that we were closer to The Chaos than we would have thought.

 **A Couple of Seats ahead**

"We could kill them right now!" Cruelty hissed.

"No way! There are way too many ponies on this train! We'd be caught immediately! Abandonment reasoned.

"Ugh! Just looking at them makes my skin crawl. Disgusting! _Yay! Lets use the magic of Friendship!"_ She said in a mocking tone. "Don't make me laugh!"

"Cruelty! Lets just consider ourselves lucky that the dragon convinced her to stop constantly looking in our direction!" Abandonment tried.

"Still, do they actually think they can kill us? Who do they think they are?! I could kill them all with three hooves tied behind my back and a blindfold... even take my wings! She quickly added.

"Jeez, that's quite a bit, don't you think?" Abandonment was concerned.

"Oh shut up! I'm not actually going to do that!"

"Oh, okay."

"Lets just get rid of them as soon as they get off the train!" Cruelty grinned.

"Yeah, okay." Abandonment agreed, as always.


	5. The Mysterious Mountain

The train ride lasted about two weeks. I couldn't shake this awful feeling I had.

"You okay Twilight?" Rainbowdash asked.

"Oh, yeah!" I lied as we headed of the train.

"You don't sound so sure." Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

"I-I just have a really bad feeling." I explained.

"Well, this is kind of a big deal, I mean... we'll be fine! You got me!" Rainbow flashed me a smile, and flew into the air.

"Yea, don't worry about it Twilight! You always figure things out!" Pinkie added cheerfully.

The train had let us off in the middle of valley, there wasn't any houses, that was odd. Even stranger was the fact that I could've sworn some more passengers had gotten off with us.

"Ya know, this place is startin' to give me a bad feeling too." Applejack looked a little worried.

"Are we sure this is the right place?! Maybe we should just get back on the train!" Fluttershy gulped.

What was with this place? Rainbow and Pinkie seemed fine, but everypony else, including me, was freaked out. Pretty soon we all began to back up a little, I wanted to hop back on the train and get out of their, but the thing was, there was no train. It had left soon after we got off.

"Lets just go guys!" Rainbow flew ahead a bit.

I almost was too afraid to move until Spike pulled on my leg a little bit.

"Come on Twilight, we have to move." He said.

We all started forward and little by little, we trotted farther and farther from the train station. As we went, the bad feeling just got worse and worse. As I got a good idea of the scenery I began to put my guard up a little more. I realized that everything in this strange little place was exactly symmetrical. There were two mountains, a good distance away from the train station. They were the exact same height, and had the exact same ridges and cracks. There were two waterfalls as well, sprouting out from one of the cracks in the mountains, the same crack. Even the trees had spread themselves out so it appeared that there were the same number of trees on each side of the path. Every flowers, every leaf, even every piece of grass was the same as it was on the other side, and I think my friends started to notice it too, because their expressions just began to look more and more concerned.

"Well, this place is quite, um, lovely!" Rarity fake laughed.

"Yeah, very." I said, trying to calm myself down.

"WAIT!" Pinkie yelled.

I felt better knowing that I hadn't been the only one to almost faint because of the abrupt scream.

"What is Pinkie Pie?" AJ asked, regaining her breath from the scare.

"What if this place is haunted!?" She smiled.

"H-Haunted?" Fluttershy squeaked.

"You mean like ghosts and stuff?" Rainbow grinned.

"Yeah!" She jumped.

"Oh, come on! None of that stuff is re-" Rainbowdash was cut off by the sound of a snapping twig. It sounded like it came from right behind us.

Fluttershy whimpered. We all whirled around, expecting to see somepony, but there wasn't anyone there. I gulped.

"H-Hello?" I whisper-yelled.

"Guys! It was probably nothing." Rainbow turned to fly forward.

"Or maybe it was a ghost!" Pinkie chimed.

"Yeah right!" Rainbow challenged.

I began to think it was just a little thing as well, and turned to follow Rainbow and Pinkie, they were already pretty far away from us.

"Girls! Wait up!" I ran after them, alongside everypony else... except Fluttershy.

...

After a long walk of arguing and laughing, we finally made it to a pass between the mountains. The path was completely covered in fog, making it hard to see.

"Whoa, I can't even see the other side!" Spike exclaimed.

"Haha, well that's great!" I mumbled.

"This seems sort of, um, ominous." Rarity decided.

"Well, let just go!" Pinkie cheered.

We stepped into the misty path, my heart pounding out of my chest. What was with this fog? I bit my lip, there was something I was missing. I knew it, but I just couldn't figure out what it was.

"Well, sure is hard to see." AJ said glancing up and down, and even squinting a little bit.

"How far do you suppose this fog goes?" I asked.

"I don't know I could fly up ahead, and try and see, if you want." Rainbow looked at me.

"Yea, okay!" I replied.

Rainbowdash took off at the speed of light.

"I hope it doesn't last too long," Rarity piped up, "fog can take a lot out of your mane."

"Isn't that humidity?" I asked.

She thought about it for a minute then shrugged.

"Well, it shouldn't take Rainbow long to find the end of it." Applejack added.

I opened my mouth to add to what she said, but there was a loud crumbling noise.

"What the?" I glanced up.

"Twi! We need to run!" AJ called frantically.

That's when I noticed it. The mountains that had been on either side of us, were now moving inwards, if we didn't do something we'd be crushed! I began a teleportation spell, and thank Celestia! This time it worked! We all appeared on the other side of the path... wait. I teleported us to the wrong side! We were back where we had began.

"What about Rainbowdash!" Pinkie seemed worried.

"And where's Fluttershy?" Rarity added.

That's when I realized it. I knew I had been forgetting something, but I never expected that something, to be Fluttershy! She was missing before we even went into the fog! Two of our friends were gone, but how? Where had we lost Fluttershy? Was it at the train station? Did she get off the train?! Yeah, she did, but where did we lose her!?

"That branch!" AJ broke me out of my thoughts.

"What?" I asked.

"The last time I remember seeing Fluttershy was when we all stopped because of the branch!" She explained eagerly.

"Do you think she's still there?!" Rarity questioned worriedly.

"ALL ALONE IN THIS PLACE!" Pinkie screamed.

"There's only one way to find out! Come on girls!" We retraced our steps to find our lost friend.

...

"FLUTTERSHY?!" We all yelled for the millionth time.

We walked all the way back to the train station, and then back to the mountains...well mountain. The two had collided together and now appeared as one enormous mountain.

"Where are you?" I mumbled to myself.

"RAINBOWDASH?!" Pinkie called.

Rainbow and Fluttershy were both missing, and I didn't know where to start, all I could do was hope that they were alive, especially Rainbow, who had flown across the fog to try and reach the other side. I felt like giving up and crying, we hadn't even been on the mission for that long!

"Maybe we outta take a break." AJ suggested.

"I agree, we've been running through these woods for hours, my hooves hurt." Rarity added.

"Yeah." I agreed.

"Well, where do we set up camp?" Applejack asked us.

"Lets just do it here." I decided.

No pony objected and we all unpacked our tents from our bag. It was getting late as the sun quickly made its way behind the world, and the moon rose, signaling the night.

"Oh girls, I hope you're alright."

...

I woke up to a terrible shriek. I bolted out of my tent, whose did it come from? Apparently Applejack, and Rarity had both leaped out of their tents too, so the scream had to have come from Pinkie Pie!

"Wha- What?" Spike stumbled out of my tent, still too groggy to make a sentence.

"Pinkie?!" I called as we all raced to her shelter.

"Pin-" I started, but Pinkie wasn't in her little makeshift home.

"Where did she-" I stopped.

There was a sudden movement in the corner of my eye.

"Hello?" I glanced up to where I had seen the shadow.

"What was that?" Rarity gulped.

"I don't know." I was getting really nervous.

We all began backing towards one of the tents.

"AAAAAAAAAH" We all heard a blood-curdling scream, it didn't sound like Pinkie for sure. It sounded more like...

"Rainbowdash?!" We exchanged worried expressions.

"What in tar nation?!" AJ yelled.

" _Should we go until only one is left or just kill all three of you right now at the same time?"_ A voice, sounding oddly familiar to Fluttershy's could be heard from the darkness.

"Flutter-" I stopped myself.

" _No."_ The voice said nonchalantly.

"Who are you?" I asked cautiously.

 _"Does it really matter to one who is about to die?"_ It said.

"Yes, yes it does." I demanded.

 _"Well, if it's really that important to you, my name is Cruelty."_

"Cruelty?!" Rarity was confused.

"Are you one of the elements?!" I questioned.

No reply.

"Did you take our friends?!" I tried.

No reply.

"Will you answer any of my questions?!" I got frustrated.

No reply.

I let out a defeated sigh.

"Twilight, I think this pony could be dangerous." Spike said.

"Yeah, I know." I knew I sounded afraid, but I couldn't help it. Before I knew it, I was shaking.

" _My presence can do that to a pony."_ The voice said, just as a pale pony revealed herself from the darkness.

She looked almost identical to Fluttershy, except for the color of her body and mane. Her body was such a pale yellow, it almost looked white. Her mane was a bright, loud red, just like _one_ of her eyes, the other was blue. Surrounding the red eye was a faded scarlet color. Her tail was white, as white as snow, but what was most horrifying about her, was not her resemblance to one of my best friends, but her cutie mark. I was three white butterflies, with saws on each wing, with blood spewing out from them. It was horrible.

" _You look scared."_ She giggled.

Her laugh sent a chill down my spine.

 _"That's okay, I mean, I did kill your friends... HeheHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHA."_ She gave an insane laugh.

"What?" I heard AJ from behind me.

 _"Did you not hear me correctly or something? I killed your friends, they're dead. The yellow pegasus and the pink earth pony. That was me!"_ She sounded cheerful and proud. It disgusted me

"No... There's just no way..." I began to think the worst, I panicked. I became frantic. "No... NO NO NO NONONONONONONONONO!" I screamed.

At my frantic behavior, Cruelty laughed.

 _"Your suffering is so much fun to watch, but you don't have to worry you'll be with all your missing friends VERY soon!"_

"TWILIGHT LOOK OU-" I heard Spike yell, before blacked out.


	6. A New Decision!

or when it happened. It just did. I was out of the mist and through the word mountain pass when they collided, and then... well, I'm pretty sure there was this pony, a pony who looked like me! She had the same mane style, figure, and almost with the cutie mark. I remember her coat being the exact same color as mine, but maybe tinted a little paler. Her mane was six different shades of grey, matching her tail. And... her cutie mark, it was very similar, but it was a stormy black cloud raining, blood and shooting lightning. Maybe I was just insane, but I swear... where was I?

The place I wound up in was very dimly lit, with only few flaming candles lighting my path. The walls around me were completely stone, a few growing moss and vines around them. The floor was mud, wet, gooey, slimy mud. There was a rancid odor, no matter what I did, I couldn't find a way to block it from entering my nostrils. It was pretty awful, it must have been from the muddy ground... or the walls. I finally convinced myself enough to take a step forward, the mud creeping around my hooves with each step.

"Hello?" I called, "Anyone here?"

No pony answered, well duh! You don't find many ponies hanging in secret underground fortresses! I thought.

"Twilight? Fluttershy? AJ? Pinkie? Rarity? Spike?" I tried all at once. I don't know why, but something about this place gave me the creeps. Maybe it was the darkness, or maybe the smell, but something told me that I wasn't going to be leaving for a long time. Good thing I had my saddlebag with me.

...

With every step I took, the mud seemed to be getting thinner and thinner, until finally there were only bricks and stone. The problem was, the brick led one way, and the stone led the other. I didn't know where to turn, so I ended up choosing the bricks. It was like the whole wall changed with the floor. It was also seeming like the walls and floor were getting narrower, so I began to gallop as fast as possible. Thank Celestia, the pathway led to an enormous room.

There was a beautiful chandelier hanging from the top, the wide room was brightly lit. The floor was now a white marble, kind of like a dance floor. In the front of the room were two stairways, both leading up to a huge set of doors. In the middles of the room was a table, for dining? No, it looked more like what the cutie map was, except normal. It wasn't really a map, more of a table with six throne like chairs surrounding it, each with different cutie marks.

The largest one was a, uh, hexagram cutie mark. It was the color of blood, and it even had the detail of looking like it was dripping. The rest of the thrones were about the same size, there were white butterflies with chainsaws and blood spewing out of them. A knife inside of an apple with a smiley face, which was already very disturbing, but there was also, what looked like blood, spilling from the apple. A cracked, black diamond with, of course, blood creeping out the cracks. A few deflated balloons surrounding a, reasonably large cupcake, with the frosting being, you probably guessed it! Blood. And then there was the one, the one I thought I knew. The cloud with blood and lightning! What _was_ this place! Why was I here! More importantly, _how_ did I get here?!

I could feel my heart beating out of my chest, something about staring at all of those thrones filled me with the worst possible fear. That's when I heard the voices.

 _"Oh, don't worry about it, Pinkis!"_ A voice sounding oddly like Twilight spoke.

 _"I know. Cruella and Aline are very powerful, and don't even mention to Aline that I said that!"_ A voice replies, sounding similar to Pinkie Pie.

 _"Pretty soon Alda and Ruby will return from Ponyville, bearing the wonderful news that we have claimed it!"_ I recognized the voice, but what was her name? Terra? Tenry? Tenbrikis? Oh! Tenebris!

But, who were all the others she mentioned? She was obviously talking to a pony called Pinkis, but Cruella and Aline? Alda and Ruby? And whoever Alda and Ruby were, they were apparently attacking Ponyville!?

 _"HUH?!"_ I heard Pinkis's voice gasp. I had been so lost in all my thoughts, I had forgotten that they were heading straight towards this room!

A purple pony, looking disturbingly like Twilight, emerged through the hallway, that I noticed, was on the right side of the large room. Her mane was in the exact same style, and the colors would have been the same, but her highlights were... more saturated? Instead of a hot pink color, it was blood red, matching the one in her tail, and the color of her eyes, which had an evil look to them. Her other highlight was also much darker, maybe a dark blue-violet. I don't know, but it was weird. Her coat also looked a little darker than Twilight's. Her cutie mark was another that I had seen among the thrones, the pentagram. Next to her was... no. The pony standing next to her was awfully similar to Pinkie Pie though. Her mane was straight, matching her tail, Pinkie's is usually bubbly. Her body was more of a hot pink, than pig pink. And her mane and tail were definitely a cherry red. Her eyes, were the same color as Pinkie's, but they looked sad, like she was going to cry, but also stern, like she was a captain of some sorts. Her cutie mark, was the one of deflated balloons surrounding a bloody cupcake.

 _"What do we have here?"_ Tenebris sung, _"A pony who fell into our_ _labyrinth?"_

"Wha-" I couldn't speak, I was choking on my own words.

 _"Rainbowdash was it? What an utterly REPULSIVE name! All you ponies have the most DISGUSTING names! WHO NAMES THEIR CHILD FLUTTERSHY? HAHA! ITS RIDICULOUS! When I take rule of Equestria, I shall be sure to change everyponys' names!"_ She chided.

"Hey! I think everypony has a lovely name! Especially Fluttershy! If you don't think that's cool, you don't deserve to be ruler! And you won't succeed!" I exploded.

 _"Oh? And, why is that?_ " She raised an eyebrow.

"Because my friends and I will stop you!" I smiled proudly.

 _"What a lovely, but absolutely ridiculous sentiment!"_ She laughed, where had I heard that before?

"Chrysalis?" I questioned.

 _"Hmm? You are aware of the Queen of Changelings?"_ She seemed surprised.

"Well, yeah, I mean they attacked Can-" I started.

 _"It doesn't matter to me, but I'll just kill you now, and since you've entertained me for a bit, I'll make it a quick one!"_ She giggled.

"Wait, huh?!" It must have sounded really dumb, but I could barely process what was happening.

Before I knew what was going, Tenebris's horn glowed, black. It was dark magic. Her eyes weren't just red anymore, the were... glowing!

 _"Now, just stay still! Hehe!"_ It sounded like there was another voice, or maybe three more voices coming out of Tenebris's mouth, but one thing was for sure, they were all evil!

I took off as fast as I could. Flying through the room. Where could I go?! This room was huge, but I needed to get out! Twi- No, Tenebris's horn began to glow brighter and brighter, well, as bright as black can get. Finally, I realized, I could just go back where I came from... or not.

The door that I hall that I had came into this room in, was now completely, a solid wall.

"How?!" Was all I managed to say.

"You know, Tenebris, maybe we _could_ actually use the, uh, Elements of Harmony." The pink one finally spoke. Her voice was Pinkie's, but very monotone, there wasn't any range, just speaking.

Luckily, for me, Tenebris lowered her horn, and her voice went back to normal.

"What do you suggest, Pinkis?" Tenebris raised an eyebrow at her unenthusiastic comrade.

"Well, all I'm saying is that, if we can take their elements, their harmony, won't that make us like a million times stronger?" She asked, still with no "voice."

"Uh, technically yes, but, we don't really need that power, we're fine. We can take control of Equestria without extra power." Tenebris reasoned.

While they were arguing, I began to crawl towards the hall behind them.

"But what if we do need that power, to have it, you'd probably be stronger than all the elements of harmony, all the princesses, Chrysalis, Discord, and Sombra all together." Pinkis replied, with no enthusiasm.

Tenebris's eyes glistened with excitement, "That is also true! Even if they did manage to free Discord, and the princesses, they would still not be as powerful as me! Pinkis! Quickly, deliver new instructions for Cruella and Aline."

"Right away ma'am." She obeyed.

"As for you, you're coming with me-" She glanced in my direction, but I was already fleeing.

I heard blasts behind me, but I didn't look. I didn't know where I was going, I was back in the labyrinth, without any directions. Finally, a glowing force field appeared in front of me, it was completely impassable, I was trapped.

"As I SAID," Tenebris's voice boomed from down the hall, "YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!"

Her horn began to glow again, a bit different from last time, but I knew I was done for. There was absolutely nothing I could do, until a flash of pink and yellow flew past my eyes, and Tenebris was on the ground, obviously stunned from the sudden attack... and honestly so was I.

"Fluttershy?!"


End file.
